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Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

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Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#331

Post by dnissley »

DisjointedHunt wrote: post #263
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a company is collecting a lot of "dead wood" underperformers, the correct response is to start raising performance expectations and hold people accountable to those standards. That's essentially what Meta is saying they're going to do. The "...so employees will quit" was an editorialized addition to the headline. The real story is that they're tightening their employee expectations and holding people accountable,…

Quoted post unavailable.

It's not just about new employees though. The pandemic shifted people's priorities, but many are still clinging to a job that doesn't fit those new priorities.

Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#332

Post by bregma »

jonny_eh wrote: post #208

> some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is OK with me Of course he's ok with it, no need to pay severance to employees that "voluntarily" quit.

There's a reason why constructive dismissal is illegal in any sane jurisdiction.

The catch is you usually have to prove it to a court or tribunal. The CEO saying he's doing in in public communications is probably pretty solid evidence.

Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#333

Post by Veuxdo »

dnissley wrote: post #323
Planktonne wrote: post #202

> Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here If a company has both 1) A lot of dead wood 2) No better strategy to deal with it than 'turning up the heat' Then this suggests a profound failure of management and leadership. I'd start cutting the dead wood there.

As a meta employee, here's my read: Zuck just wants folks to get back in gear after being somewhat (justifiably) distracted over the past 2 years. To be honest I see where he's coming from. I heard about and read a lot about the company culture before I joined, both good and bad. I thought at minimum I was signing up for a certain level of intensity that definitely seems to be lacking.

But, by any sane measure of the US, things are worse and are getting worse.

Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#334

Post by smegsicle »

bilsbie wrote: post #246
msbarnett wrote: post #214

Yeah, "we hired people we shouldn't have so now we're going to make it increasingly unpleasant to work here" doesn't work. First-hand, what I've seen happen is that your most talented people, who are the most in demand, leave the organization quite quickly because they correctly realize they don't have to put up with this bullshit. It's the coasters who fear they'll never land an equally cushy job who attempt to ride…

Sounds like you’re describing this https://steveblank.com/2009/12/21/the-elves-leave-middle-ear...

or the 'dead sea effect'- as in talent evaporates, leaving only the salty underperforming solute

Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#335

Post by II2II »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #251
msbarnett wrote: post #214

Yeah, "we hired people we shouldn't have so now we're going to make it increasingly unpleasant to work here" doesn't work. First-hand, what I've seen happen is that your most talented people, who are the most in demand, leave the organization quite quickly because they correctly realize they don't have to put up with this bullshit. It's the coasters who fear they'll never land an equally cushy job who attempt to ride…

> Yeah, "we hired people we shouldn't have so now we're going to make it increasingly unpleasant to work here" doesn't work. But that's not what Meta is saying. The goal isn't just to make it miserable. The goal is to raise the expectations and hold people accountable throughout the company. The exact quote "Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here" is hard to argue wit…

The problem isn't what they are saying, it is how it is implemented and how it is read. Then there is the issue of how it affects company culture. The tech industry seems to view culture as the type of people they want to work with. That is not the whole picture. If having a job with the company (or receiving promotions) becomes some sort of survivalist game, there will be people who employ survivalist tactics to protect themselves and those close to them. The goal may not involve making people miserable, yet the outcome will be.

Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#336

Post by chocolatemildew »

As a soon to be ex-meta employee, I have two thoughts:

1. What Mark says is real, no BS, finally telling people how it really is. He’s focused on the metaverse - if I was a long term investor - I’d buy more all the way down - and I think it will go down.

2. I’m jumping ship, no more metamates, just me. Many offers on the table set to go, was stressful but enough is enough. I love the job, but I like surfing and hanging out with family more. A players can and will leave, they will have many offers - market for A players is strong. Mark will continue to attract talent - and in time - meta will prevail

Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#337

Post by TomVDB »

tuckerman wrote: post #307

I think we do a disservice to ourselves and the open culture at many SV companies to give leakers so much attention. Without context (which when speaking to a company can also include context you can only get by working there and experiencing the culture/norms) it’s possible to pull out clips from most speeches/announcements to excite anger from just about anyone and many media outlets seem very happy to help leakers…

Why a disservice? It’s the contrary.

Thanks to those kinds of leaks, I had already decided I’d never want to work for that place.

When a good friend started working there, he confirmed pretty much everything.

Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#338

Post by huffmsa »

mcv wrote: post #212
s17n wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every sufficiently large company has a lot of dead wood, and nobody has yet devised a better strategy than 'turning up the heat'.

Is it an effective strategy at all? I can imagine that turning up the heat without any benefits is just as likely to chase the most talented people away.

If it's just reviewing people at a higher standard, I don't see how that'll turn high performers away.

Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#339

Post by clumsysmurf »

darthrupert wrote: post #216

What on earth can make a person as successful as Zuckerberg be so fucking clueless? Obviously the first people to leave when heat turns up are the best ones, as they are the ones who have the most opportunities and courage. I have seen this a dozen times and this happens almost mechanically. I knew success was mostly about luck, but things like this make it seem like it’s 100% about luck.

I asked myself the same question when I watched this interview "CNBC's Jim Cramer interviewed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyoVLipRVPw

It sounds like he really believes his own bull.

Re: Meta slashes hiring plans, girds for 'fierce' headwinds

#340

Post by JJMcJ »

msbarnett wrote: post #214

Yeah, "we hired people we shouldn't have so now we're going to make it increasingly unpleasant to work here" doesn't work. First-hand, what I've seen happen is that your most talented people, who are the most in demand, leave the organization quite quickly because they correctly realize they don't have to put up with this bullshit. It's the coasters who fear they'll never land an equally cushy job who attempt to ride…

This also happened when more paternalistic companies in the 80s would offer buyouts of one kind or another.

The better employees, feeling more certain they could find another job, were often the ones who left.

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